I'm Mary (yeah yeah I know; it should be easy to remember Not like anyone has ever made fun of me for that before ever.) and I'd like to introduce my version of Maryland. Hope you like her!

I can’t draw anime styles to save my life, so this is the sort of art you’ll be getting from me.

Edit: December 2, 2011. I've been doing some serious thinking about her personality lately. Updated some things, changed others.

One of the main things to remember about Maryland is that she is very compassionate and caring toward those in need, but, paradoxically, to the detriment of her relationships with her loved ones. She works as a nurse and is studying to be a doctor because of a drive to serve. However, she's also in it because she's addicted to work, addicted to figuring things out, addicted to the thrill of making new discoveries. She does care about her family, but she's so lost in her own little world most of the time that she comes off as very disconnected from them. The thing is, she doesn't really realize this and refuses to listen to people who try to tell her.

At her best, she is extraordinarily insightful and intuitive, caring and gentle, dedicated to making her citizens' lives better in any way she possibly can. At worst, she is insecure and self-destructive, mentally unstable, oblivious to her actual faults, and yet convinced that everything is her fault.

The positives:-Intelligent-Curious and passionate about learning-Compassionate at heart-Insightful and reflective-Passionate about her work, driven to high achievement -Helpful

The negatives:-Passive-aggressive-Indecisive and insecure-Emotionally distant -Arrogant at times-Kind of a workaholic-Stressed out a lot (and when she gets stressed out she can be kind of bitchy) -Hypocritical (at various points in her history, about slavery, smoking, segregation, etc.) -Tends to beat herself up over things that aren't really her fault and dwells on past mistakes far too much.

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A brief history:Maryland was conceived as the idea of George Calvert, First Baron of Baltimore, who wanted to create a haven for English Catholics in the New World. Before the king could grant him the charter, however, he died and the task of founding Maryland fell to his son, Cecil. Maryland's birthday is March 25, 1634, the date when the first two English ships, the Ark and the Dove landed at St. Mary's City on the west banks of the Chesapeake. As was George's will, the Catholic Calvert family promoted religious toleration in their colony (for Catholics at least) and that is soon what the new colony became known for. Cecil ultimately controlled Maryland for 42 years. Although she only met him twice in his lifetime (he never visited North America and travel to Europe was dangerous and difficult), she considered him a father figure. Back in the colony, she was technically raised by her proprietary (later royal) governors. Perhaps the distance of her family while she was growing up contributed to her modern-day tendency to be emotionally distant from those she cares about.

In early years, she had to compete economically with surrounding colonies, but ended up developing quite similarly to Virginia. Tobacco became her major cash crop and enslaved Africans became her labor force of choice. The Chesapeake Bay was a vital shipping and trading route, and so Baltimore and Annapolis grew more and more prosperous.

Also during this period, she came into conflict with her neighbors over borders. Through a series of mishaps and surveying/mapmaking fails, she lost most of the disputes. That's why MD is shaped so damn weird. She'd like to think that DE, PA, and VA have mostly forgotten about this (and her Catholicism) but sometimes they do still bring it up.

As the Revolution approached, she was an active participant in the events leading up to the American revolution, and citizens in her colony echoed events in New England by establishing committees of correspondence and hosting their own tea party similar to the one that took place in Boston. However, she was initially reluctant to support independence, being uncertain of victory and unwilling to support a losing cause. Ultimately, however, she was convinced of the movement's necessity, and signed on.

It was during the Revolution that she earned one of her nicknames: The Old Line State. This name comes from the actions of a group of soldiers called the "Maryland 400" at the Battle of New York in 1776. The colonial army was vastly outnumbered and General Washington ordered a retreat, leaving only the Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland lines to provide cover. Finally, only the Maryland line remained, refusing to back down even in the face of the incredible carnage brought upon them by the British. George Washington remarked, as he watched these men in action "Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose!"

In 1790, she agreed to give up a corner of her southwestern land on the Potomac River to form Washington, DC. Sometimes she kind of regrets this decision, but knows that without DC, her life would have gone entirely differently.

Between the Revolution and War of 1812, Baltimore became infamous for its piracy privateering activity. Great Britain saw the city as a wretched hive of piracy and vice, and this partially led to the events of September 1814. After burning Washington, DC and humiliating the young nation, the British turned toward Baltimore, vowing revenge for its losses on the high seas. There, the only thing standing between the citizens of Baltimore and the British navy was Fort McHenry. Between September 12 and 15th, 1814, the British bombarded the fort while its defenders struggled to hold them back. A young lawyer named Francis Scott Key watched the battle from behind British lines. When he discovered that on the final day, the American flag still flew over the fort, he was so inspired that he wrote "The Star Spangled Banner."

In the antebellum period, Maryland was the home of many notable firsts, including the first railroad in the nation, and the first telegraph transmission.

During the Civil War, Maryland was a border state and the loyalties of her citizens were divided between north and south. The federal government, fearing her secession, sent troops into Baltimore and kept them there for the duration of the war. The positioned their cannons at the city from atop the largest hill in town, just to keep abreast of any shenanigans...

Maryland ended up staying in the Union, but thousands of Marylanders fought for the Confederacy. On September 17, 1862, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history occurred at Antietam. Maryland was pretty seriously injured during the battle, and had to spend several weeks in a field hospital recovering. It was here that she first discovered her interest in medicine, helped along by her nurse-turned-mentor Clara Barton.

In 1904, Baltimore suffered a devastating fire that destroyed much of the harbor and dock area. While the city rebuilt fairly quickly, it was only the first disaster in a series of events that led to Baltimore's decline and urban decay throughout the 20th century. In the 1970s, a new revitalization effort began under the direction of Mayor (later governor) William Donald Schaefer. The old Inner Harbor was rebuilt into a tourist-friendly area full of shops, restaurants, and office buildings.

These days, Maryland is a major center for life sciences research and development, with over 350 biotech companies. It is the home of Johns Hopkins hospital and university, considered the best hospital in the nation and one of the best in the world.

Of course there are millions of other things to say about Maryland and her history, but obviously I've been rambling on for way too long already. I hope I can work in these and more facts in my future works.

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Quick facts about Anna:

-Being so close to Washington, DC, she hosts a wide variety of government facilities and offices, including the Census Bureau, Department of Energy, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health. With so many of her citizens working for the government in some capacity, she has a love-hate relationship with Uncle Sam. She gets incredibly annoyed by the feeling that it takes advantage of her, but recognizes its necessity as part of her economy.

-In that same vein, she is home to many "experimental" and socially engineered suburban developments, such as Greenbelt, the first and most influential of the "Green Belt communities," towns planned during the Roosevelt administration to be utopian escapes from city life. [link]

-Northern Maryland's Catoctin Mountains are the home of Camp David (or "Camp #3", as it is seen on public road signs), the president's private country retreat, and the site of many visits from international delegations. The most famous of these was Jimmy Carter's Camp David Accords, thirteen days of negotiations between Egypt and Israel leading to a treaty that earned both parties the Nobel Peace Prize.

-She has a weakness for kitschy things and strange collections. (she hosts the American Visionary Arts Museum", a museum dedicated to all kinds of crazy and wonderful art that would certainly not fit in at the Lourve but fits in perfectly in Baltimore!

-She tends to call people “hon” as a form of endearment, reflecting a common Baltimorean verbal tic.

-She usually has the best of intentions, but things never seem to go as she plans.

-Until the early 20th century, she was a pretty heavy smoker (blame all the tobacco farms and historical strength of her tobacco industry). When its negative health effects were proven, she worked for years to quit. By the 60s, she had completely broken the habit.

-She’s a horrible driver and lots of the other states get freaked out driving with her. She doesn't have a lot of patience for traffic jams and often spaces out when she’s driving down the interstate. She’s also the kind of person who will sadly comment on every single dead animal she sees on the highway. She also tends to get in a lot of accidents.

-Having the 5th-highest population density in the nation, she sometimes feels rather trapped and claustrophobic, lost in a crowd. This contributes to her being quite stressed out much of the time.

-She's quite a workaholic, always needing some task or another to be doing. She thrives on challenges.

-She’s quite snarky and sarcastic when she wants to be and sometimes surprises the others with witty comebacks. She can be kind of bitchy, particularly when she's stressed out about something.

-She puts Old Bay seasoning on EVERYTHING, even things you’d think it would taste horrible on. Like ice cream.

-She loves cooking and is quite a foodie. Beyond her stereotypical staples (crabcakes, claim chowder, mussels, etc.) she loves many kinds of ethnic foods, especially Chinese, Vietnamese, and Ethiopian. She also loves sweet things, from cupcakes to cobblers and pies.

-She plays lacrosse. And it’s SERIOUS. FUCKING. BUSINESS. Seriously, if you get in her way while she’s playing, she will beat you down with her stick.

-Because of the influence of Catholicism in her early years, she considered herself as such for a very long time. Now she’s the type of religious person who goes to church on Christmas and Easter, and maybe when one of the other states drags her to a service. Still, she’s quite proud that she has her very own saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton.

-She’s worked as a nurse in every war since the Civil War*, and as such, has seen a lot of blood and gore and disease. She’s also seen unbelievable technological advances that enable more soldiers than ever to survive. When she first started, one in every twelve soldiers died of diseases like typhoid fever, malaria, and dysentery and there wasn’t much that doctors could do for them. Now, with amazing modern technology like DNA analysis, medicine, bionic limbs, etc, they can survive some pretty serious stuff.

-She’s currently studying for an M.D. degree (haha…MD) at Johns Hopkins University. As she has been for the past decade. She doesn’t have a lot of time to take classes between her official duties and other responsibilities but that’s never stopped her. She hopes that in a couple years’ time, she’ll be able to force all the other states to call her “Dr. Calvert.” She’s definitely a big believer that just because she was born a state doesn’t mean that she can’t do anything else with her life and help people out.

-She loves all kinds of animals, especially rare and endangered ones. She can list the scientific names of hundreds of species that live in her wetlands and forests.

-She tried to be an environmentalist. She uses reusable bags when she goes to the grocery store, and drives a hybrid car (with a “Treasure the Chesapeake” license plate). How successful she actually is at saving anything is debatable.

-She knows several languages in varying degrees: English (obviously), French, German, and Latin. She has a horrible accent in all these languages when she tries to speak, however. She's much better at writing.

-Don't call her Annie. She will yell at you.

-She recently traveled to Asia and brought back lots of souvenirs. ________________

And finally, I explain her profile and stuff...

Why did I make her female? I know that lots of people in STP see MD as a male, and I admit that I do like the idea of male!MD/Virginia with Washington, DC as their lovechild (hehe...). But I see things a bit differently.Maryland in general just gives off a feminine vibe to me. First, there’s the name itself, “Maryland,” named after Queen Henrietta Maria. Then there’s the motto “Manly deeds, womanly words,” which conjures up images in my mind of all the strong women from Maryland from Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman to Rachel Carson and Nancy Pelosi. What seals it for me though, are the lyrics of the state song, which (although typical of the day, it seems fitting) describes Maryland with feminine pronouns throughout.

What does her name mean? Anne or Anna was a very common name for English girls in the 17th century, derived from the name of the woman who, in Catholic tradition, was the mother of the Virgin Mary. In addition, it was a name borne by many female members of the Calvert family. And the Calvert family, of course, is who she gets her surname from.

What does the "C" stand for? "Carroll" after one of Maryland's prominent early politicians and a founding father of the United States, Daniel Carroll.

Color symbolism:Many states may have certain colors that represent them, but few have such a storied history as Maryland's. See, the colors of Maryland's flag are yellow, black, red, and white. The colors come from the coats of arms of two prominent families in early Maryland: The Calverts (yellow and black) and the Crosslands (red and white). During the Civil War, these colors took on new meaning in divided Maryland. Unionists wore yellow and black, while Secessionists wore red and white. After the Civil War, all four colors were united on Maryland’s official flag to symbolize the reconciliation between the two factions.

Appearance: She’s on the short side, with a slight frame. She’s always been pretty skinny and scrawny, much to her chagrin. “Curvy” or “sexy” are certainly not words one would use to describe her (her mountains are not very tall, relatively speaking…) Instead, many have opted for “cute” or “rather pretty.” She doesn’t readily attract the attention of the opposite sex, but she does have a certain charm about her that draws people in once they get to know her.Age: Her true age is around 377, but her condition, of course, makes her eternally young. Her official drivers’ license says she’s 23 (born in 1988), but people tend to think she’s still a teenager. She’s rather sensitive about this, and insists to them that she’s older than she looks. If only they knew just how much…

Blonde hair? Blue eyes? Really? I'll be the first to admit that Maryland is much more ethnically diverse than perhaps I imply with her design. In fact, as of the 2010 census, whites have become a minority. However, I gave her these traits for a reason. First, she came into being as an English colony in the 17th century so it would make sense for her to have English traits like blonde hair. (Plus blonde goes with her yellow/black color scheme better.) Her blue eyes represent the element of water, which has always been so important to her existence.

Maryland has a blog, which can be found here: [link]She would love it if you followed her!

And, if you've actually made it to the end, I'll leave you with a link:

It's also home to the infamous Fort Detrick, the 'head office' and HQ of one of the US Gub'mints' slimeyist ongoing projects -- chemical and biological warfare.

No, I won't go on a rant here. Some few may do a little private research if they can stomach it, but the vast majority will simply write it off as another 'Conspiracy Theory' -- it's so much easier then actually 'thinking' or of learning highly unpleasant things and then doing nothing about it. Ever.

The Old Bay, traffic and lacrosse are DEAD ON! Love Maryland! But I was dragged away from her and forced to live in NC. DX I miss my north! I lived right on the border of DC and MD so I deff got the best of both worlds. I also lived in Bmore for a time as well.

definitely go to oregon, not california. I live in cali, but I go to oregon, and in the summer, it's worth being there. just make sure you go after the fourth of july, like, towards august. otherwise, still rainy. xD

Aaahh - sorry to pop out of nowhere and creep like this, but I happened upon this by pure coincidence and was so, so pleased to see such a well-thought-out MD!

I used to hang out around STP quite a bit, even though I wasn't a very prolific contributor... I actually took someone else's old MD design and ran with it to make a character back in the day, then belatedly realized the group already had a new one. A bit embarrassing, haha. But it's interesting and rather gratifying to see some of the same themes and characteristics in your take on the state!

Ahh, I don't feel like I'm involved in the STP as much as I should be. I'm always bad with group projects. For shaaaame; I really like the STP.

Woo suburbs. I feel like that kind of makes it harder in a way, because living in the suburbs is just like...I never traveled to other parts of the state as a kid. We just hung around DC and NoVA because my dad hated unnecessary driving. We always flew from BWI and I think we went to the aquarium in Baltimore a couple times, but high-tailed it out of there when the day was over. The first time I went to Baltimore for real I was like, "So this is what all the stereotypes are about" and got embarrassed when I realized there was so much stuff about my own state I didn't know. And the Eastern Shore always makes me feel like I'm in the Deep South. haha. Not that there's anything wrong with that...